Teachers, doctors and social care workers were among those
arrested, on charges ranging from possessing indecent images of
children to serious sexual assault.

Of those arrested, 39 had been convicted of sexual offences
previously, but most had not attracted attention from the police.

The operation targeted people who accessed indecent web images
using software which would be difficult to detect by UK
authorities, NCA Deputy Director General Phil Gormley has said.

“Our aim was to protect children who were victims of, or
might be at risk of, sexual exploitation. A child is victimized
not only when they are abused and an image is taken. They are
re-victimized every time that image is viewed by someone.

“We want those offenders to know that the internet is not a
safe, anonymous space for accessing indecent images, that they
leave a digital footprint, and that law enforcement will find
it,” he warned.

The NCA (dubbed the ‘British FBI’) reported that the operation
has guaranteed the safety of 400 children, and that the police
forces were dealing with an “unprecedented” increase in
reports of sexual abuse of children.

Among few specific details disclosed by the NCA, it’s been
revealed that some of the arrested suspects had viewed images of
child abuse “for decades,” while others had even
traveled to Cambodia and Vietnam to engage in sexual activity
with minors.

“During this operation, we’ve targeted offenders accessing
child abuse images. Police must continue to use a range of
investigative techniques targeting all forms of abuse if we’re
going to protect children and bring offenders to justice. Chief
officers are committed to using all the tools available to them,
because nothing is more important in policing than protecting
vulnerable people,” Chief Constable Simon Bailey, national
policing lead for Child Protection and Abuse Investigations
added.

UK children’s charities have welcomed the operation, saying that
the police action sends a “strong message” to child
abusers that they will be traced and prosecuted.

“Industry has to find inventive ways of blocking the flow of
such horrendous pictures, which are only produced through the
suffering of defenseless children – many of who are not even old
enough to go to school,” said Claire Lilley, head of online
safety at the NSPCC.

“So while this operation must be rightly applauded we should
view it as yet another warning sign that far more needs to be
done if we are to stem the sordid trade in these images, which
are often used by those who go on to abuse children,” she
added.

The most recent data from the NSPCC shows that one in 20 children
have been victims of sexual abuse, and that in 2012-13, there
were 18,915 incidents of sexual crimes against children recorded
in England and Wales.